Friday was a mixed day for our markets. Harvest corn closed up 3 1/4, harvest soybeans closed up 5 1/2, harvest winter wheat closed down 7 1/2 and harvest spring wheat closed down 6. In the overnight trade corn, soybeans and winter wheat are positive with spring wheat still negative. Oil closed up $1.11 on Friday at $61.02 per barrel. It is stronger in trading again this morning with it now valued at $63.28 per barrel. Our dollar traded between a low of $0.717 US and a high of $0.719 US on Friday with it closing out at the low end of the range. It has trended lower this morning and is currently valued at $0.715 US.
Big news on the tariff / trade war front came out yesterday. China and the US have made an agreement to slash reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. They will go down to 30% into the US and 10% into China. The 90 day timeframe is to allow further negotiations such that a long term agreement can be made. This announcement has brought strength to the US dollar as the outside markets reacting like this may be the start of the end of the current turmoil. For our commodities of course soybeans have found the most strength as China is the world’s largest soybean importer and is currently the largest purchaser of US soybeans.
Last week was a negative week for our markets. Spot corn closed down $8 per tonne with both this year and next year’s harvest down $3 per tonne. Spot soybeans were down $2 per tonne with this year’s harvest even and next year down $1 per tonne. Spring wheat was down $6 per tonne across the board and winter wheat was down $8 per tonne across the board.
The USDA is releasing two big reports today for our commodities. The first will be the monthly WASDE report. This is the first WASDE report of the year that takes into account the actual projected acres and the projected trend line yields for this year’s production. They also will most likely be dealing with some of the fallout from the tariff / trade wars that President Trump had started. If they do will it all have to be changed again with a possible trade agreement with China being negotiated? Time will have to tell that story!
The second big release is the weekly Crop Progress Report which should continue to show strong planting progress. The market will also be looking for a stronger crop rating for their winter wheat crop. It will be very interesting today to see how the market responds to both reports.
If you would like to talk about the markets or price some of your crop for the future or in store, please reach out to us via phone or email to info@northgowergrains.com. Prices quoted herein are for product at our elevator.
Delores Seiter | 613-880-7458
Bob Orr | 613-720-1271
Office | 613-489-0956
